ST ANDREWS, September 29, 2011 (AFP) - Louis Oosthuizen staked a claim for more glory at the home of golf on Thursday after grabbing a share of the first round lead at the Dunhill Links Championship.
The South African lifted his major title at St Andrews in 2010 with victory in the British Open, and fired his way into contention on Thursday with a six-under-par opening round 66.
It was a satisfying day's work for Oosthuizen, who was forced to miss the Pro-Am event last year after tearing ankle ligaments in a hunting accident.
"I couldn't watch this event last year on TV, I was too upset I wasn't there," said Oosthuizen, who heads the leaderboard with Austrian Markus Brier, Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey.
"It's nice to come back and experience everything again. It was good fun playing a practice round at St Andrews yesterday with my brother. I showed him where a few of my shots ended up and things like that.
"I suffered the injury three weeks before the event last year and had no chance getting ready for it. It was a big shock for my brother because he was supposed to play, so I promised I would take him this year.
"There's nothing better than holding the Claret Jug at St Andrews. Hopefully at the end of the week it's just a different trophy."
The leaders will be nervously looking over their shoulders at Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who is lurking just one shot off the pace after a 67.
After a stellar 2010 which witnessed his first major at the US Open and a dramatic match-winning contribution for Europe in the Ryder Cup, McDowell has struggled to find his best form this year.
However the 32-year-old Ulsterman, who was one of six players to finish the day at five under, said he was reaping the benefits of a decision to seek out the advice from former coach Clive Tucker.
"At the US PGA Championship things came to a head," McDowell said. "Myself and my caddie had to have a bit of a heart-to-heart as to what we were doing and what we needed to change.
"It was a bit of soul-searching and Clive was the answer, a guy that understands my game very well and was probably a lot to answer for why I played well in 2010."
First round scores in the European Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship being played at the Old Course St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
St Andrews Old Course
66 - Markus Brier (AUT), Michael Hoey
68 - Steve Webster, Romain Wattel (FRA), Shane Lowry, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE)
69 David Drysdale, Daniel Gaunt (AUS), James Kingston (RSA), Tommy Fleetwood, Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Tano Goya (ARG)
70 - Michael Campbell (NZL), Peter Lawrie
71 - Marcel Siem (GER), Mathias Gronberg (SWE), Steven O'Hara, Oliver Fisher, Marcus Both (AUS), Paul Lawrie, Oskar Henningsson (SWE), Bradley Dredge, Patrick Reed (USA), Henrik Stenson (SWE)
72 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Richie Ramsay, Alan McLean, Joost Luiten (NED), Todd Hamilton (USA), Seve Benson, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP), Jbe Kruger (RSA), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Ross Mc Gowan
73 - Christian Cevaer (FRA), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Richard McEvoy, Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Scott Jamieson, Brett Rumford (AUS), Johnson Wagner (USA), Neil Schietekat (RSA)
74 - Richard Bland, Alvaro Velasco (ESP), Robert Rock, Stephen Gallacher, David Dixon, Robert Dinwiddie, Keith Horne (RSA)
75 - Gary Orr, Richard Finch, Phillip Price, Kieran Pratt (AUS), Michael Jonzon (SWE)
76 - Scott Strange (AUS)
80 - David Bransdon (AUS)
Carnoustie Course
67 - Marc Warren
69 - David Horsey, Jack Senior, Sandy Lyle
70 - George Murray, Martin Wiegele (AUT), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Andrew Dodt (AUS), David Lynn, Johan Edfors (SWE)
71 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI), John Daly (USA), Matt Haines, Jamie Donaldson, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)
72 - Alex Haindl (RSA), Robert Jan Derksen (NED), Joakim Haeggman (SWE), Mark Tullo (CHI), Ross Fisher, Oliver Wilson, Jason Knutzon (USA), Oscar Floren (SWE), Bronson La Cassie (AUS), Peter O'Malley (AUS)
73 - Anthony Kang (USA), John Parry, David Howell, Gareth Maybin, Andre Stolz (AUS), Nick Dougherty, Danny Willett, Maarten Lafeber (NED), Barry Lane
74 - Rhys Davies, Rikard Karlberg (SWE), Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA), Michiel Bothma (RSA), Andy Sullivan, Gary Boyd, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Mark Foster, Benjamin Hebert (FRA)
75 - Steven Brown (GBR), Peter Whiteford, Robert Coles, Peter Karmis (RSA)
76 - Christian Nilsson (SWE), David McKenzie (AUS), Josh Cunliffe (RSA), Steven Jones (AUS), Paul McGinley, Rohan Blizard (AUS)
77 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Marcus Fraser (AUS)
79 - Aaron Townsend (AUS)
Kingsbarns Course
66 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP)
67 - Graeme McDowell, James Byrne, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Gregory Havret (FRA), James Morrison
68 - Peter Hanson (SWE), Colin Montgomerie, Martin Kaymer (GER), Tom Lewis, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood
69 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Stephen Dodd, Alexander Noren (SWE), Luke Donald, Simon Dyson
70 - Rory McIlroy, Jeppe Huldahl (DEN), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Simon Khan
71 - Matteo Manassero (ITA), Rafael Echenique (ARG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Graeme Storm, Dustin Johnson (USA), Anthony Wall, J J Henry (USA), Gareth Paddison (NZL), Paul Cutler, Niclas Fasth (SWE), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Pablo Martin (ESP)
72 - Chris Wood, Retief Goosen (RSA), Ernie Els (RSA), George Coetzee (RSA), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Matthew Griffin (AUS)
73 - Thomas Aiken (RSA), Damien McGrane, Matthew Zions (AUS), Darren Clarke, Mark Brown (NZL), Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP)
74 - Scott Hend (AUS), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA)
75 - Floris De Vries (NED), Thomas Levet (FRA)
76 - Anthony Michael (RSA), Soren Hansen (DEN)
77 - Kenneth Ferrie